Inflation shoots up in June

By Hilary Mare

The annual inflation rate for June increased by 4.1 percent compared to 2.1 percent recorded in June 2020 while on a monthly basis, inflation rate rose by 0.5 percent compared to 0.3 percent posted in the previous month, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) announced last week.
The main contributors to the inflation rate for June 2021 were Food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.3 percentage points); Transport (1.3 percentage points); Alcoholic beverages & tobacco (0.3 percentage point); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels (0.3 percentage point); Furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (0.3 percentage point); and Miscellaneous goods and services (0.3 percentage point).
“Food and non-alcoholic beverages together with transport continue to be the major drivers of inflation during the month of June 2021, with each accounting for 32 percent of total change,” Alex Shimuafeni, NSA Statistician-General and CEO said.
The zonal inflation rates for the month revealed that, Zone 1 (Kavango East, Kavango West, Kunene, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa, and Zambezi) recorded annual inflation rate of 3.9 percent, Zone 2 (Khomas) recorded annual inflation rate of 3.7 percent, while Zone 3, (Erongo, Hardap, Omaheke and //Kharas) registered inflation rate of 4.9 percent.
On a monthly basis, Zone 1 recorded inflation rate of 0.4 percent, Zone 2 recorded 0.5 percent, while Zone 3 recorded the highest inflation rate of 0.6 percent.
“The average retail prices of selected products for the month of June 2021 revealed that consumers residing in Zone 3 paid more for beef at N$132.65 per kg followed by Zone 2 with N$126.21 per kg, while for consumers in Zone 2 paid more for chicken assorted pieces (1.5 kg) at N$72.12 followed by Zone 3 at N$70.96,” Shimuafeni further stated.
In essence, in June, the index for goods and services stood at 149.3 basis points and 141.6 basis points, respectively, compared to corresponding indices of 141.5 basis points and 138.7 basis points recorded during the same period last year. The annual inflation rates for good and services increased to 5.5 percent and 2.1 percent in June 2021 compared to 2.5 percent and 1.6 percent recorded in June 2020, respectively. On the other hand, the monthly inflation for goods and services register 0.2 percent and 0.8 percent in June 2021 compared to 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent recorded during the previous month.